


The Five Times Talia Failed at Dating (and The Time Melissa Salvaged Everything)

by MaraMcGregor



Series: Through Time [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Dating, F/F, Five Plus One, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Mention Scott McCall - Freeform, Werewolf Courting, five times fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 14:32:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4628838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaraMcGregor/pseuds/MaraMcGregor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Talia must date/court Melissa McCall to ensure that the Hale and McCall Packs will merge successfully. The fate of both packs rely on them getting it right. Unfortunately, Talia has bad luck with planning dates and/or executing them. Murphy seems out to get the couple and the pack has started whispering that Derek inherited being a bit of a failwolf from his mother. Sequel to Through Time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Five Times Talia Failed at Dating (and The Time Melissa Salvaged Everything)

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own these characters. They are the property of Jeff Davis and MTV.

* * *

Talia stood on the porch, toying with the sleeves of her dress. She hadn’t been this nervous since she was 19 and meeting Eric for the first time. Something deep and primal wanted to prove herself and impress Melissa. While she was fairly certain that it had nothing to do with Melissa being the mother of a True Alpha, she wasn’t sure where this desire was coming from. Eric had been a werewolf and their families supported them dating. Melissa was human. Other than her son, she had no ties to the supernatural world. But, there was something so calming and steady in her being that soothed her wolf and drew her in.

Listening in the the house, she realized that Scott was upstairs. Considering it was their first date, she wasn’t surprised that Scott would want to make sure his mom was in good hands before letting her go with a werewolf he barely knew. After finding out what her brother had tried with Melissa, she couldn’t blame him and was happy to see the young Alpha doing his best to protect his pack.

Ringing the bell, Talia forced herself to relax. She had made reservations at Otani’s. It was a gamble going for sushi, but she didn’t want to go anywhere or do anything that might compare to Melissa’s ex-husband. The fact that he was still in town was starting to grate on her nerves nearly as much as it annoyed Scott. Heavy footfalls tumbled down the stairs and stopped just shy of the door.

“Hello, Scott.” Talia smiled at the teen as the door opened.

“Alpha Hale.”

“Scott, I’ve told you, feel free to call me Talia.”

Scott stepped aside and waved her in. “It just seems so informal.”

“You’re a True Alpha, technically you outrank me,” Talia reminded him as she stepped into the entryway, waiting for her date to come down the stairs.

Scott rocked on his feet, hands in his pocket. “Yeah, but still. You’re dating my mom.” Moments passed in silence before his curiosity got the better of him. “So, what are you doing tonight?”

“Just dinner. Thought we’d go for sushi.” Talia started to worry when Scott burst out in laughter.

“Oh my God. Please, _please_ explain everything to her. My first quasi-date with Kira involved sushi and I ate the wasabi thinking it was guacamole.”

Talia grinned, relieved that at least it would be new for Melissa and that should would have the chance to enjoy introducing her to something she hadn’t experienced before. Light footsteps at the top of the stairs drew the werewolves’ eyes up. Melissa was dressed in a simple black dress and heels, hair half up and silver hoop earrings catching the light. Talia felt her heart rate accelerate. She caught Scott smirking out of the corner of her eye and managed to restrain herself from smacking him on the shoulder like she would have Derek.

Melissa fiddled with her shawl, blush rising in her cheeks. “I hope it’s not too much. I know you said dress nice and I haven’t had a chance to wear an LBD in such a long time -”

“You look stunning,” Talia interrupted.

Scott nodded in agreement. “Perfect.”

Melissa smiled and patted her son on the cheek. “Don’t think this gets you out of kitchen duty tonight.”

“I got it, Mom. You both have fun. I’ll be here, cleaning the stove.”

Melissa raised an eyebrow and hummed before letting herself be escorted from the house.

Talia was still breaking in her car. She had never been so thankful for having such a frugal son. He hadn’t made a dent in his trust, so walking into a dealership and picking out a car had been one of the easier things to handle since travelling 7 years through time. Having the law on the pack’s side was infinitely helpful in getting death certificates revoked. She would be lying to herself if impressing Melissa wasn’t on her mind when she was picking out her car. Talia didn’t want to be too ostentatious, but at the same time, wanted to demonstrate her ability to take care of her future wife. Opening the passenger door of her brand new Audi, the new leather scent wafted out. She was pleased when Melissa closed her eyes, enjoying the new car smell.

Fifteen far too short minutes later, they were at Shige Sushi. The soft yellow lighting and cozy dining room was the perfect combination of upscale and comfortable. The hostess escorted them to their table and passed them both paper menus with pencils.

Melissa glanced up at Talia, brow furrowed in slight concern.

Talia smiled and marked her menu. “I’m ordering a sushi and sashimi selection for two. Do you like seaweed salad?”

“I’ve never had it, but it’s far from the strangest thing I’ve ever heard of.”

Laughing, Talia passed their order to their server and asked for green tea for them both. “So, Scott told me to fill you in on everything. Have you ever had sushi before?”

“Once or twice a long time ago. But nothing to this scale. I think they were California Rolls? The ones with the fake crab and avocado rolled in rice? And, I’m very well aware that the green stuff is wasabi and not guacamole.”

“How did he manage that exactly? There’s no way he could be that oblivious.”

Melissa laughed. “Oh, you don’t know my son. Sweet, charming, good heart … kinda dense.”

Shaking her head, Talia pointed to the set up on the side of their table. “Okay, green top is low sodium soy sauce, red is regular soy sauce. It’s best to try it without the soy sauce first and then with. There’s ginger that comes with the wasabi to clean your palate between trying the different fish.”

Melissa dipped one of the rolls into the soy sauce. She couldn’t decide which way she liked them more. Without, the flavor was crisp and clean. The soy sauce added a salty tang. She tried several more pieces and paused as she heard a giggle from across the table. Glancing up, she saw Talia smiling softly, but not eating.

“I’m glad you like it. Sometimes people don’t take to it right away.”

Melissa smiled back. This was always the type of dinner date she wished Rafael had taken her on: considerate, thoughtful, and fascinating conversation. A tickle in the back of her throat caused her to cough lightly. She hoped she wasn’t getting sick. Usually her immune system was very strong from being constantly bombarded in the ER. Melissa sipped on her green tea and hummed, trying to work out the tickle.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just a feeling at the back of my throat.”

Talia’s brow furrowed. “You aren’t allergic to seafood, are you?”

Melissa shook her head. “No. I don’t have any allergies, as far as I know.” Her last words were hoarse as she struggled to prevent from coughing again. Her throat now felt as if there were claws dragging themselves down her esophagus. Melissa knew she was in trouble when she could feel her throat swelling and closing up.

“Melissa? Melissa! Your lips are turning blue.” Talia was starting to panic. “What do I do?”

Melissa managed to croak out in stunted breaths, “Hospital.”

Talia nodded, picked Melissa up and carried her to the car. She was just opening the driver’s side door when the manager from the restaurant came running towards her, waving their check in the air. Talia fumbled with her wallet, pulled out a couple hundred dollar bills and thrust them at the woman. She couldn’t remember the drive, but she was well aware of rushing through the glass doors of the emergency room, carrying Melissa as she struggled to breathe.

She looked on as the nurses rushed to them with a gurney and took Melissa back to a room with curtains. Collapsing on the hard chairs in the hallway, Talia pulled out her phone and called Scott. She had no idea what was wrong and if anyone was going to shed light on what happened, it would be Melissa’s son.

Scott arrived as Talia was going over the evening with a nurse for the third time. As of the moment, the doctor was going with an “allergic reaction to _something_ ”. Which was the most inane diagnosis she had ever heard. Talia was well aware that it was an allergic reaction to _something_. The question was what.

Finally, the doctor came out and addressed Scott. “Your mother is doing fine and resting. She’s had an injection of Benadryl and is resting. Has your mother ever had an allergic reaction before?”

Scott shook his head. “No. Never.”

“Was anything different tonight than any other night?”

“She’s never had sushi before, but we eat fish all the time.” Scott paused, trying to think of anything that could have happened. “She didn’t try the wasabi, did she?”

Talia huffed out a laugh. “No. She stayed clear of the wasabi. She liked the soy sauce, though.”

“Soy sauce? Has she ever had it before?”

“I don’t think so,” Scott answered.

“There’s a chance she’s allergic to it,” the doctor pointed out.

Scott opened and shut his mouth a few times, trying to formulate his question. “If she’s allergic to soy sauce, is she allergic to soy?”

“Not necessarily. But it’s possible. Does she commonly eat things like edamame, tofu, miso …”

“Eda what?”

Talia felt like collapsing. A soy allergy. Of all the things to discover on their first date. When the fate of the two packs in Beacon Hills rests on impressing the mother of the True Alpha, she manages to send her to the emergency room with dinner. 

* * *

The next date, Talia was determined to get right. Apparently, Melissa had loved going ice skating when she was younger. Talia had never been, but she was sure she would pick it up quickly. She was an alpha werewolf, with superior reflexes. Surely, ice skating was going to be successful.

Talia was wrong. She couldn’t believe how wrong. The chili dogs were excellent and offered a great opportunity to redo the date meal. They giggled over the mess they created. And there was a quick run for club soda to scrub sauce out of Melissa’s shirt and Talia’s pants.

Melissa laced her skates and stood by the rink door, waiting for Talia to totter over to her on the cushioned floor.

“You’ve never done this before, have you.”

Talia straightened her spine and squared her shoulders. “No. But, I’m sure I’ll pick it up. Werewolf, remember?” Talia gave Melissa a smirk and stepped out onto the ice.

Melissa opened her mouth to warn Talia that that was exactly what Scott had thought, but she was too late. Talia tilted forward, waved her arms wildly, and face planted. Melissa glided over the short distance and helped her up. “Are you okay?”

Talia blinked and shook her head, trying to focus. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

"I was going to warn you. Scott, thought the same thing when he tried ice skating for the first time. He said it was lucky that he is a werewolf, otherwise he would have left the rink with permanent brain damage.” Melissa grabbed Talia’s arm and helped her to her feet. “Come on. Let’s see if you have better luck than my son.”

Talia did not have better luck than Scott. She face planted, ran into the walls, fell on her ass, tripped and somehow got her jacket tangled in her skates, and the coup de grâce was when she fell backwards and managed to wrap her ankle around Melissa’s dragging them both down into a heap on the ice. She called it a wash and drove Melissa home, eager to fill a tub full of hot water to ease her body and bruised ego.

* * *

The local dinner theater wasn’t the best place to watch a higher end production, but travelling to San Francisco or even Santa Rosa was out of the question when there was a chance Melissa could get called in. And the play wasn’t exactly _Othello_. But, she had the feeling that Melissa would enjoy a dinner theater version of _9 to 5_. The hospital scene of stealing a body would be just about right and would hopefully be a humorous outlook on the insanity that Beacon Hills offered on a daily basis.

They were barely a third of the way into the show when the lighter the three main characters were using malfunctioned. The paper mache crown on Judy’s head caught fire and the person playing Violet dropped her fake joint. Fire and smoke billowed from the center of the stage. The actors screamed and managed to get the paper crown off her head, but it landed onto the polyester couch and the stage fans quickly spread the fire.

The emergency sprinkler system turned on and doused the entire theater in water. Talia and Melissa struggled against the crush of patrons running towards the exit. Talia was sure the smoke, dirty water, and wine would never come out of her dress.

* * *

Talia was starting to get stressed out trying to come up with something romantic that Melissa would appreciate and wouldn’t backfire spectacularly. She thought she had been safe with the theater. The trend in ruined dates was starting to be whispered about in the McCall Pack. Talia thought she overheard Scott’s friend, Stiles, murmur something about finally knowing where Derek got it from. Whatever it was, she was sure she didn’t want to prove Stiles right.

Since they were in winemaking country, she decided that a tractor pull through a vineyard would be easy enough. Talia closed her eyes and silently prayed that there were no bees; and if there were, for Melissa to not get stung.

Melissa looked lovely as always. The sun glinted off her black hair and lit her eyes, highlighting their warm brown color. Talia felt herself go slightly weak in the knees watching Melissa close her eyes and enjoy the bright sunshine basking down on the hillside. Talia grabbed a shawl from the backseat and draped it over Melissa’s shoulders. The answering smile made Talia want to lean in and kiss those kind lips. She barely refrained. That was something she wanted to share at the end of the perfect date. Talia could almost see it, sitting on a hay bale on a trailer and tasting her for the first time.

Shaking herself out of her reverie, Talia wrapped her arm around Melissa’s waist and escorted her up the hill to the tractor that was waiting there to begin the tour. Two other couples were already seated. The moment they got situated on their bale, the tractor rattled to life. A quick jolt sent Melissa into Talia’s arms. Giggling at each other, they stayed entwined as the tractor pulled them through the chardonnay and into the pinot blanc plot.

Talia relaxed. The swaying of the trailer and beautiful weather soothed her nerves. She was confident that _this time_ was going to be the perfect date. That was until the tractor shuddered and black smoke billowed from it’s exhaust.

The driver hopped out of the cab, waving a handkerchief in the air, trying to encourage the smoke away from the couples. “Not to worry, folks! I radioed in the problem. They are sending someone down now to unhitch the trailer and move this tractor out of the way. The tour will continue. While we wait, feel free to walk around and take some pictures. The view of the valley is lovely today. You can see the evening fog bank start to roll in on the tops of the mountains to the north of us.”

Talia and Melissa jumped out of the trailer and wandered the vineyard, hand in hand.

Melissa ran her thumb over Talia’s knuckles. “Don’t worry about it. You are putting too much pressure on yourself.”

“I want to do this right. It’s so vitally important that everything goes well. I couldn’t bear it if this alliance failed because I couldn’t manage to take you on one proper date.”

Chuckling, Melissa bumped shoulders with Talia. “Technically, you’ve taken me on four proper dates. It’s not your fault that I didn’t know I was allergic to soy, or that werewolves aren’t good with ice, or that the prop at the play malfunctioned. You’re also not miraculously at fault for a random mechanical failure in a tractor.”

Talia tried to calm down and let herself enjoy the view. Giving up on relaxing, Talia followed Melissa through the rows and eventually back to the trailer.

She blamed herself for being so unobservant. The tractor had been moved and the trailer hooked back up. But, it wasn’t hooked to a tractor. Instead, two large horses were tethered together and ready to steer them through the rest of the tour. Before Talia could back away, the wind shifted. One whiff of werewolf had both horses rearing up on their hind legs and bolting. Riderless and passenger-less, the trailer rattled hazardously and crashed through the trellises. Cringing at the disaster, Talia chose the better part of valor and quickly walked away and back towards the car, Melissa trailing after her.

* * *

To be fair, the fifth date never actually got off the ground. Literally. It was ambitious and Talia freely admitted to herself that skydiving was no where near a rational concept for a date, but she was desperate. Melissa was the voice of reason before anything could actually go awry.

“Talia, I know you are really concerned about this, but I think you are trying too hard. I like you. I do! But, skydiving -”

“It’s impressive. A grand gesture. Like a leap of faith into the unknown together. It’s symbolic and appropriate.”

Melissa rubbed her temple and watched Talia steer the car down the dirt road to the skydiving school. “You’ve already impressed me. You care more about my opinion than anyone other than my son. Rafe never went this far or did anything nearly as considerate when we dated.”

Talia snorted. “That doesn’t surprise me. He’s clearly blind and has no idea of the value of the family he mistreated and then abandoned.”

The car stopped just shy of the hangar doors. Melissa placed her hand on top of Talia’s, preventing her from undoing her seatbelt. “If you want me to jump out of a plane for you and the packs, I will. It has nothing on using a defibrillator on twin alphas merged into one body while a darach is running through the hospital taking human sacrifices and evading a demon wolf all at the same time. But, Talia, I was impressed with you the moment you thought of your children and my son before yourself. The moment you chose to take the burden from my son’s shoulders was the moment I knew that I would do anything to make this work. If you need me to prove the same to you, then I will jump from the plane. You have nothing left to prove.”

Talia stared at the brown fingers covering hers. It was no wonder Scott turned out to be a True Alpha, his mother was the most amazing woman she had ever met. She felt so inadequate next to this human woman who had withstood more than most supernatural creatures ever did and supported an entire pack made up of teenagers in the process. Struggling to respond, Talia whispered the one thing that she had promised herself, “I wanted our first kiss to be after the perfect date.”

Melissa sighed in happy relief. “Is that all? Leave it to me. Come over tomorrow and I’ll take care of everything.”

Talia turned the car back on and drove them away from the airfield.

* * *

Melissa waited patiently on the front porch for Talia to arrive. She knew from the moment Talia had arrived at her house several months ago that she would marry the woman, if just to prevent Scott from being forced to sacrifice another part of his future to the supernatural. But over the course of dating Talia, Melissa had grown to love her. The amount of effort Talia put into every one of their interactions was more than she had ever received from anyone she had ever dated.

She was a little concerned about what would happen after they moved in together. After all, she hadn’t dated another girl since high school. But, with how considerate Talia was about everything else, Melissa was sure that it would be fine and probably extremely romantic. Melissa hoped she didn’t try too hard. She really didn’t need to have any structural damage to her house from another failed attempt at wooing.

The black Audi pulled up into her driveway and Talia stepped out of the driver’s side. Melissa was relieved that Talia had listened and dressed comfortably. She stood up and grabbed the large, wicker picnic basket sitting next to her feet.

The two clambered into Melissa’s beat up Dodge, picnic basket in the back seat with a large blanket.

“Where are we going?”

“A place I used to take Scott when he was little. It’s not in the woods or anything, but it’s a cute park with some trails that go to a couple secluded areas.”

Melissa wove through several twisting backstreets and eventually pulled up to a well maintained park with a jungle gym and swing set. She grabbed the basket and blanket out of the back and started walking, Talia by her side. They followed a cement path that meandered over a brook and out of sight of the cars. Taking the fork to the left, Melissa led them to a shady patch where they could watch the fish swim in the wider section of the stream.

“This is beautiful. I never knew this was here.”

Melissa smiled and set out the blanket and spread. “It was Scott’s and my secret place. We would come here when it got too loud at home and we needed a break.”

Talia knelt on the blanket, careful not to knock over any of the containers. “Thank you for sharing this with me.”

Plucking a clover from the earth, Melissa brought over for Talia to inspect. “Do you think there’s any truth to the belief about lucky four leaf clovers?”

“I think there’s truth in anything if you believe in it hard enough.”

Melissa leaned forward, leaving only a hairsbreadth of space between them. “I believe in us.” She pressed her lips against Talia’s. Their fingers interlaced as they finally shared the perfect date with the perfect kiss.

 


End file.
